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Page 4— Halton Hills This Week; Wed Opini , October 13, 1993 if. [HIS WEEN Georgetown, Ont. L7G 481, QE. Web Printing. Halton Hills this newspaper. ‘ices at wrong price, goods or services may nat be LISHI PHONI sold. Advertising IER: Ken Bellamy PRODUCTION MANAGER: Kathleen Topolsek E MANAGER: Jean Shewell HALTON HILLS THIS WEEK IS INDEPENDENTLY OWNED & OPERATED. IE: 873-2254 FAX: is merely an offer to sell which may be withdrawn at any time, EDITOR: Colin Gibson CIRCULATION MANAGER: Marie Shadbolt 173-3918 ciciamasmaniaal To the Editor: As you are probably well aware of by now, I have recently been on a letter writing crusade in regard to politicians and Canada’s political system in general. When presented with my. letters for their valued opinions, my wife and my co-workers have taken to rolling their eyes back in the heads, indicating, oh no, John’s off on another politics-bashing tangent. If every Canadian citizen wrote on€ letter per month to their political represen- tatives, party leaders or to the media, stating their dis= satisfaction with the gov- ernment’s policies or actions, I am sure that our politicians would have to pay attention. get away with all the dam- age-causing policies they bestow upon us, only because the majority do not speak out, but instead wait passively for changes to miraculously — happen. Come on, peoplé, we live in a democracy, where the majority opinion is sup- posed to rule. Speak up, make your political repre- sentatives accountable. Make your worthy views known. Help implement real change to our political system. It is not for ourselves that we must demand changes to what I feel is our presently corrupt polit- ical system, itis for our children and future genera- tions of Canadians. Only be reacting’ as @ majority can. we effectively do so. Wake up, it isn’t going to get any better unless we make it so. Your actions are what count. Sitting pas- sively on the sidelines does not get your opinions heard and does nothing but take a voice away from the true majority, leaving the minority to politically and indeed actually, control our lives. I was raised to believe that it is wrong to lie. Why then do we.continue to reward our politicians? The huge salaries, outrageously lucrative perks and presti- gious-political positions they receive, are for what? For no more than their con- stant stream-of untruths before, during ‘and after ‘an election. There is definitely something wrong with a society that rewards the, telling of untruths. There is a simple solu- tion to this injustice, which would also make the elec- torate perceive the politi- cians in a more positive light. A law must be passed and put into the Canada Elections Act that would make it illegal: for a politi- cian to lie at any time dur- Our present governments* Let’s fire the politicians. ‘ing the performance of their job (before, during, or after an election). Any politician breaking this law would then be subject to it and indeed, would be immediately fired. You can be sure that if Kim Campbell were to put such a law in place right now, almost every politi- cian in Canada would be looking for work tomor- row. If this law was to be passed and the majority of the politicians ended up being fired, it would pro- vide a solution to the unemployment problem across Canada. For every one politician fired there would be enough public funds freed up to put three or four unemployed indi- viduals to work at a decent rate of pay. Just think of all the jobs that could be cre- ated with the revenue freed up by not paying politi- cians their current inflated salaries, perks and pen- sions. ~ ‘Since starting this writ- ing campaign, I have noted an interesting fact. The smaller newspaper publica- tions in the province, will Print straight forward, hon- est criticism of politicians or our political system, no matter what the source. Larger publications, including Toronto papers, seem to shy away from publishing anything that will tell the political situa- tion as it really is. This leaves me with the impression that the larger publications in some way are. governed by the thought of losing their cor- porate advertisers who happen also to be’ political supporters of one party or another. What is printed becomes not the majority opinion but a soft ‘soap approach on the issues so as not to offend certain political. parties with cor- porate ties: I would hazard a guess that such a practice does not fulfill the freedom of speech clause in our consti- tution and is a good reason for a law being-devised to keep large corporations from funding any political party in our country. In closing, I say, come on, Canadians, get involved. Write your let- ters. Call your radio talk shows. Telephone your MP or MPP on a regular basis. Make sure’ your opinion is heard. Make a difference. Our:children will be the ones to suffer if you don’t. John D. McConnell, Acton. Editor’s note: If you fire all the politicians, who will run our country? It is the system itself that needs to be changed. ; MM al-m od -te) 0) (- 4m Ore) a al-1 A plea to Rae to save our countryside To the Editor: The fall-leaves in the country this week are just beautiful. One of the pretti- est drives in Ontario is through the village of Norval to Terra Cotta and on to Belfountain and the Forks of the Credit. As you drive along this scenic route, by the Credit River, past the Bruce Trail, close to the Niagara Won’t sign blank cheque To the Editor: Kim Campbell won’t dis- cuss the issues. What’s new? For the. past 10 years the Conservatives have been avoiding the issues, wasting our money and time on Constitutional reform, etc. For 10 years they’ve been talking about reducing the deficit, but it seems that the annual rate of increase of the deficit has been worse than even the Liberal’s. The GST is now indisputably, just a tax b. grab. Kim Campbell won’t tell us how she’s going to reduce the deficit to zero in five “years, why? There are only three possibilities. Either the news is so bad that she'll lose votes if she-tells us how or she has no plan, or she has no intention of doing it. election, I voted for Garth Turner because he was against tax increases and wanted deficit reduction. Garth has changed. For sev- eral years now, Garth has said that he wants the GST tax grab extended to include the groceries. A vote for Garth obviously means, or will be interpreted to mean, GST on the groceries. Garth and Kim want me to sign a-blank-cheque by vot- ing for them, a very, very blank one. Only way is, if I think the Liberals are likely to get a majority. Steve Melville Georgetown Comment? Halton Hills This Week welcomes your letters. Send them to: Letters to the Editor 232 Guelph St. Unit #9, Georgetown, Ont. L7G 4B1 or fax them to us at (905) 873-3918 Escarpment, you will pass two areas that have been identified as potential dump sites for the. huge Peel garbage dump. It is totally shocking to think that the NDP, through the Interim Waste Authority, would even consider such a loca- The sites are dangerously close to the Credit River and have the potential to contaminate and reduce the underground water flow and surface streams that feed the river. The geology of the area is complex and pro- vides no natural safeguards against the polluted waters that seep out of dump sites. But most of all, the resi- dents and businesses of Norval are deeply con- cerned about the effects if will have on the unique character and beauty of the village, along with some of the best fishing, hiking and canoeing in Southern Ontario. We are frightened that this nightmare may-actually happen. An announcement is to be made this month. Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables, lived in Norval from 1926-1935. She wrote “Norval is so beautiful now that it takes my breath.” Mr. Rae, if-you’re listen- ing, please help us to keep it that way, before it’s too late! Julie Pomeroy Noval, Ontario Bumper crop for Reform party To the Editor: Garth you surprise me! For someone who has writ- ten a book that advocates most of the Reform Party. ideas it seem rather ironic that the Hon. Garth Turner should be in the fore leading the attack against the Reform Party. As one of those who sup- ported Garth in his bid for the position of Prime Minister I find this change from a person who fought for ideals to one who is fighting for a position disap- pointing. Call me naive but. yearn for the time when politicians support ideas that they and their constituents believe in rather than what their party dictates. The fact that Garth is now putting so much ener- gy into fighting a party that has so much in common with his way of thinking suggests he is following orders from above rather than his conscience. This is not the real Garth Turner. I’m also surprised that, the other parties are using this tactic of Reform bashing. Obviously they're all alarmed by the sudden surge. in popularity of the Reform Party, but their negative smear tactics will only serve to degrade them in the eyes of the public while ‘elevating the Reform Party which has’ stuck to. explaining its plan and policies rather than wasting energy denouncing other parties. This will all help to boost what started as a seed in the west to.a bumper crop for the Reformers that will be harvested from coast to’ coast. 7 Mike Pembry Terra Cotta